NAMA left with bill of €8m for staff termination payments

The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has been left with a €8 million bill for terminating staff in the final stages of its wind-down. According to figures released under Freedom of Information, 54 employees were eligible for termination payments totaling €7.96 million. The largest chunk, just over €4 million, was shared among 47 departing staff for ex-gratia redundancy payments.

An additional €1.53 million was paid in salary to these employees while they were on garden leave. Retention payments of €1.13 million were also payable to 49 employees as NAMA closed its doors. Seven staff members were transferred to the Resolution Unit of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which will oversee the management and disposal of NAMA's remaining assets.

The detailed breakdown shows that €681,000 was paid in statutory redundancy, €4.066 million in ex-gratia redundancy, and €172,000 and €249,000 for employer PRSI and pension, respectively. There were retention payments of €1.134 million, along with €127,000 in employer PRSI on those lump sums. NAMA paid just under €270,000 for untaken annual leave.

The NTMA spokesperson clarified that this is additional to the €7.9 million in termination benefits. NAMA's 2024 annual report estimated the cost of staff payouts to be around €12.4 million, but the actual costs so far include payments made in 2025 and those scheduled for 2027. The difference is primarily due to payments made after certain staff members' fixed-term contracts end in 2027.

NAMA was officially dissolved 17 years after its establishment to manage toxic loans from the financial crisis. When it completed its work, it still held residential assets of around €22 million, €50 million in cash, and €425 million worth of property assets transferred to the Land Development Agency in 2025.